Shortened Trading Session. Markets will close early today, at 1 p.m. New York time, following Thursday’s holiday.
12:30 p.m. New York time
Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures rose during the session, so far into the 6850s, slightly higher than the previous peak, 6846, set on November 26.
Elliott Wave Theory: The turn upward appears to mark the start of the final subwave within the larger final subwave, wave 5{-10}, of rising wave A{-9}, the first subwave within a 2nd-wave upward correction that began on November 21, 2025.
Alternatively, the higher high could also be a subwvave within wave 4{-10}, a downward correction within wave 5{-9}.
There’s still a touch of ambiguity in the chart, which is not unexpected when the close of the trading week comes the low-volume day after a major holiday.
9:35 a.m. New York time.
What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures worked worked their way higher after trading resumed overnight, from the 6820s to the 6840s so far.
What does it mean? Elliott Wave Theory analysis shows the rise is part of a sideways movement that began earlier in the week, a 4th subwave within a rising 5th wave, 5{-10} that is itself a subwave within rising wave A{-9}, the first subwave within an upward correction, subwave 2{-8}, within the still larger downtrending subwave 5{-7}.
Alternatively, It’s possible that the rising 5th wave ened on November 26 at 6846, and the present sideways movement is an early stag of downtrending wave B{-9}, the middle subwave of wave 2{-8}, a three-subwave correction.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 12:30 p.m., 50-minute bars, with volume]
Waves Now Underway
These are the waves currently in progress under my principal analysis. Each line on the list shows the wave number, with the subscript in curly brackets, the traditional degree name, the starting date, the starting price of the S&P 500 E-mini futures, and the direction of the wave.
Most of the waves began not long ago, on October 8, 2025. See my essay posted on October 12, 2025, “The End of the Rise from 1932? Elliott Wave Theory Says ‘Yes’”, for a discussion of how that happened.
- 1{+4} Supermillennium, (unknown start date or start price) {down}
- A hypothetical wave one degree higher than Supercyle, needed to make the wave analysis complete.
- S&P 500 Index:
- 1{+3} Supercycle, 10/8/2025, 6812.25 (down}
- 1{+2} Cycle, 10/8/2025, 6812.25 (down}
- 1{+1} Primary, 10/8/2025, 6812.25 (down}
- 1{0} Intermediate, 10/8/2025, 6812.25 (down}
- 1{-1} Minor, 10/8/2025, 6812.25 (down}
- 1{-2} Minute, 10/8/2025, 6812.25 (down}
- S&P 500 Futures
- 1{-3} Minuette 10/8/2025, 6812.25 (down}
- 1{-4} Subminutte 10/8/2025, 6812.25 (down}
- 1{-5} Micro, 10/8/2025, 6812.25 (down}
- 5{-6} Submicro, 10/29/2025, 6953.75 (down)
- 5{-7} Minuscule, 11/20/2025, 6791.25 (down)
- 2{-8} (none), 11/21/2025, 6525 (up)
- A{-9} (none), 11/21/2025, 6525 (up)
Reading the chart. Price movements — waves – – in Elliott Wave Theory analysis are labeled with numbers within trending waves and letters with corrective waves. The subscripts — numbers in curly brackets — designate the wave’s degree, which, in Elliott Wave analysis, means the relative position of a wave within the larger and smaller structures that make up the chart. R.N. Elliott, who in the 1930s developed the form of analysis that bears his name, viewed the chart as a complex structure of smaller waves nested within larger waves, which in turn are nested within still larger waves. In mathematics it’s called a fractal structure, where at every scale the pattern is similar to the others.
Learning and other resources. Elliott Wave analysis provides context, not prophecy. As the 20th century semanticist Alfred Korzybski put it in his book Science and Sanity (1933), “The map is not the territory … The only usefulness of a map depends on similarity of structure between the empirical world and the map.” And I would add, in the ever-changing markets, we can judge that similarity of structure only after the fact.
See the menu page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.
By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, November 28, 2025
Disclaimer
Tim Bovee, Private Trader tracks the analysis and trades of a private trader for his own accounts. Nothing in this blog constitutes a recommendation to buy or sell stocks, options or any other financial instrument. The only purpose of this blog is to provide education and entertainment.
No trader is ever 100 percent successful in his or her trades. Trading in the stock and option markets is risky and uncertain. Each trader must make trading decisions for his or her own account, and take responsibility for the consequences.
All content on Tim Bovee, Private Trader by Timothy K. Bovee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on work at www.timbovee.com









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